Chapter 9 Chapter 8 The Murderer

It was quiet in the living room, and everyone looked stern, with anxiety hidden in their anticipation. "Keep everyone waiting for a long time." Yun Jisang finally appeared at the gate, still holding the red octagonal hat in his hand. "Youqing, what did you find?" Wei Shengzeng asked hastily. Yun Jisang bowed deeply to him: "Teacher, please don't worry, the students have already figured out what happened tonight, so I will explain it to everyone." Wang Yansi raised his eyebrows slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but finally he didn't say it.

"Why, wasn't the murderer who killed Mr. Liang the dumb servant?" Xie Qingfang asked puzzled. "Of course not. The dumb servant is just another victim, a substitute used by the murderer to divert our attention!" Yun Jisang said decisively. "Then who is the real culprit?" Wang Zhenwu asked loudly. "That's right, who is the real culprit?" Yun Jisang's eyes swept around the crowd. Under his gaze, some people were calm and fearless, some were uneasy, and some were pretending to be calm.Finally, his eyes fell on Zhuo Anjie's face.The familiar phoenix eyes were looking at him calmly, but Yun Jisang saw deep encouragement from it.

On one side, Ming Huan opened his mouth wide and silently shouted "Come on, Xifu!" with pink and tender lips. Yun Jisang smiled slightly, turned around and continued: "The weirdest thing about tonight is that everyone heard the bell ringing in the stone house. When we arrived, the stone house was on fire and the gate was tied. The only possibility is that the dumb servant committed suicide after shaking the copper bell alone, so everyone believes that the dumb servant is the real murderer." "This matter is indeed puzzling. At that time, everyone was watching, and everyone was outside the stone house. I'm afraid they didn't have the chance to do anything." On the side, Yu Chenji frowned.

"Naturally, the murderer had no chance to do anything at that time. The mechanism had already been set up before Mr. Liang was killed. When we arrived, we just happened to catch up with it." "Institution? What institution?" Wang Yansi wondered. "It's the mechanism that makes those ghost bells shake by themselves in the stone house!" Yun Jisang said slowly. "How is this possible? If the murderer allowed the fire to ignite spontaneously, it would be easy to do. You only need to use incense and other items to do it. But at that time, there was only one small window in the stone house, and there was no wind at all. How could the ghost bell blow for no reason?" Shake by yourself?" Tang Pan asked suspiciously.

"Of course it's not for no reason." Yun Jisang smiled slightly and said to Wang Yansi, "Wang Catcher, do you still remember the blood that flowed along the ghost bell in the stone room?" Wang Yansi nodded: "Of course, Wang thought it was used by the murderer's sacrifice." "I took a look just now, and the blood is all chicken blood, but it's not used for sacrifices, but an extremely ingenious mechanism set up to match the fire in the stone house!" Yun Jisang said, and took out a string of long blood from his bosom. Long ghost bells, "Look everyone, this is a string of ghost bells." He first carefully picked up the few ghost bells at the bottom of the string and tied them to the string.Then he folded up the tied part and tied it with thread again. After repeating this several times, the ghost bells gathered into a large cluster. Then he jumped up and hung the ghost bell on the beam, letting The ghost bell hangs high against the beams of the house.

By this time, some people in the hall had realized something, while others were still confused. "Young Xia Yun, is this the mechanism you mentioned?" Wang Zhenwu asked with a frown. "That's right, the murderer did the same thing as me, but the murderer didn't use silk thread, but chicken blood." Yun Jisang said in a deep voice. "Chicken blood? How does chicken blood tie the bell?" Wang Zhenwu still didn't react. But Wang Yansi clapped his hands: "Wonderful! That's how it is! The murderer first froze the bells outside with chicken blood, then took them to the stone room and hung them up, and finally set a big fire outside the stone room..."

"That's right!" Yun Jisang looked around the crowd, "The fire caused the temperature in the stone room to rise sharply, the chicken blood melted, and the ghost bell naturally fell and made a sound. The murderer can definitely prolong the ghost bell by adjusting the size of the frozen chicken blood. The sound creates the illusion that someone is ringing the bell in the stone room!" At this point, everyone has fully understood the ingenuity of this mechanism, and they can't help but admire Yun Jisang's sharp intelligence and quick thinking. "Youqing, tell me, how did the door of the stone room be locked from inside?" Wei Shengzeng asked again.

"Yes, teacher. This matter is very simple. The murderer first frozen the door bolt on the door at an angle, and then closed the door. After the ice melted, the door bolt fell naturally and locked the door from the inside." Yun Jisang smiled and said: "That stone door It was burned by the fire for a long time, but when I touched the door latch, it was not hot, obviously because it was covered with ice and snow." "I see." Wei Shengzeng suddenly realized, and nodded. "Shaoxia Yun is really clever! But who is the murderer?" Tang Pan stroked Yuxiao and asked lightly.

Yun Jisang raised his eyebrows and smiled, and showed the red octagonal hat in front of everyone: "Everyone, please look, this is the hat used by Bimo. Wang Butou said it is called 'tiger eye hat'. Since this bamboo hat is used by Bimo It must be very rare. Since the dumb servant is not a Bimo, this bamboo hat does not belong to him, but the real Bimo—that is, the thing used by the murderer!" At this point, he threw the bamboo hat away, " In other words, whoever wears this hat is very likely to be the murderer!" As soon as these words came out, everyone's expressions changed.

Wang Yansi frowned and said: "Young Xia Yun's words are too arbitrary, the person who can wear this bamboo hat is not necessarily the real murderer!" "Indeed, other people may also wear this bamboo hat, and it is very suitable. It's just... everyone, please take a look!" After speaking, he put the bamboo hat on his head, and the vertical edge under the bamboo hat was obviously a little small. "This bamboo hat is too small for me. In other words, the head of the person who can wear it must be smaller than mine." As he spoke, he took off the bamboo hat from his head, and gently twirled it in his hands: "Among all of you present, I'm afraid there are not many people who can wear this bamboo hat?"

As soon as his words fell, everyone in the venue began to look at each other.It is true that Yun Jisang is already on the thin side, if he is a bit big in this bamboo hat, then there are not many candidates. "In my opinion, the only ones present here are the teacher's wife, Yu Zhenren, and Steward Yang who have this possibility." Yun Jisang said indifferently: "The teacher's wife was always by the teacher's side at that time, and she never left for a moment. Naturally, it is impossible, not to mention that she can't do light work. The fish man was on the altar at that time, I remember very clearly, when the bell rang, he was behind me, and the murderer flew towards the altar from behind me, so the fish man was also impossible. So..." He Coming to Yang Shizhen, he handed the bamboo hat forward: "Butler Yang, may I invite you to try this bamboo hat?" Yang Shizhen was still as usual, with her head slightly lowered.After standing still like this for a while, he stretched out his hand to take the bamboo hat, but did not put it on his head, but raised his head to look at Yun Jisang: "Young Xia Yun, if I wear this bamboo hat and it just fits, I will be considered a Ghost Winding Bell, is such an inference really convincing?" "Of course not. This kind of evidence is far from enough. But although the murderer used chicken blood in the stone chamber, the amount is quite a lot. This Ping'an Town is not big, and the only family that can collect so much chicken blood is probably It's just the teacher's Wei mansion. As the housekeeper of Wei mansion, on your birthday, it must not be a difficult task to collect these chicken blood." Yun Jisang stared at Yang Shizhen and said. "So what? The Wei Mansion did have a lot of livestock for the birthday, but the guards are not strict. Anyone may steal chicken blood for their own use." Yang Shizhen said calmly. "So, Steward Yang has never collected chicken blood, nor has he ever been in contact with chicken blood?" Yun Jisang asked forcefully. "Exactly!" Yang Shizhen said firmly. Yun Jisang looked at him for a while, shook his head, smiled slightly, and began to walk in the hall: "The murderer must be in contact with a lot of chicken blood in order to make this trap. If you are not careful, you may get your clothes dirty. Steward Yang, I remember that you have been wearing that Tsing Yi for the past few days, why did you change it just today?" "So what? Many people have changed their clothes today. Is there anything wrong with Yang changing his clothes on the day of fasting?" Yang Shizhen sneered. As Yun Jisang walked, he said to himself: "That's right, it's normal to change clothes on the day of fasting and offering sacrifices. I was wrong." There was an annoyed look in his tone, and then he seemed to have discovered something. Turning around sharply, staring at Yang Shizhen and saying, "It's just that not only the clothes, but also the shoes may be stained with blood if the murderer is not careful... Butler Yang, although your clothes have been changed, but the pair of cowhide boots on your feet But it hasn't been changed. Well, there doesn't seem to be any blood on it, what about the bottom? Can you ask Butler Yang to lift up the boots for everyone to see?" Yang Shizhen's face suddenly turned pale, he stood still for a moment, then suddenly lowered his head and laughed, the laughter was very depressing, like crying, getting lower and lower, and finally disappeared. Then, he slowly raised his head and faced the crowd again. "Clang!" The medicine bowl in Xie Qingfang's hand fell to the ground. Not only her, everyone was stunned, because the expression on Yang Shizhen's face at this moment was exactly the same as the grimace on the ghost bell, it seemed to be crying but not crying, smiling but not smiling, with a mocking indifference . "Why, are you afraid? Remember, this is the dharma appearance of my Biasura clan when I practiced it! It is also the truth of the ghost face! Yun Shaoxia, you are really amazing, and you have easily seen through Yang's painstakingly designed mechanism " Yang Shizhen slowly raised his hand, and put the tiger eye hat on his head.The moment the bamboo hat covered his eyes, the temperature of the whole hall seemed to drop suddenly, and an extremely cold aura pervaded the hall. "Yang, no, I, A Kuri, admire Biasula's heir very much. Yun Shaoxia is right, I kept a secret, and even forgot to change my boots. God's will..." "Shizhen! Why...is it really you? You...why did you do this? You...you..." Wei Shengzeng spoke incoherently, obviously unable to believe that his housekeeper was the murderer. "Yeah, why did you do that." Yang Shizhen said sadly, then shook his head: "Of course I have my reasons for doing this, and the people who died all had their own ways of taking death. Like that Liang Xideng, he was born in Dongchang For many years, we have been hunting down and killing the survivors of our Luoluo Eighteen Villages, even their wives, children and children. Such people deserve to die ten thousand times! I have been practicing Faling all these years in order to drive away Daming The officers and soldiers of the imperial court, revive the glory of our Luoluo Eighteen Villages! Master and Madam, we have been a master and a servant in the past few years. Although there are many secrets in it, I still remember the kindness of the Master and Madam. It’s just a pity. I can no longer serve Master and Madam, the world is difficult, people's hearts are sinister, I hope you can take care of yourself." He said, he glanced at Wei Shengzeng and Xie Qingfang each. "Yang Shizhen! Why don't you just catch him with your hands tied!" Wang Yansi pulled out the iron ruler from his waist and said in a deep voice. "Catch it with nothing? Just rely on you?" Yang Shizhen raised his arms and screamed, his arms were outstretched, his feet didn't move, and his body flew backwards inconceivably. The moment he stood up, everyone could clearly see that the felt on the soles of his boots was covered with mottled blood. "Stop him!" Wang Yansi yelled, chasing him out first. Behind Yang Shizhen is Wang Zhenwu!So the moment Yang Shizhen flew up, he saw the light of the sword again!The nine rings sounded in unison, and the big sword carried a strong and incomparable true energy to cut Yang Shizhen in the middle! Yang Shizhen's body was like a willow leaf, and he floated up two feet lightly by the wind of the knife, just avoiding the sharp knife in the middle! "Cut!" Wang Zhenwu seemed to be crazy, with his left foot as the axis, he spun violently, and the big knife reversed from bottom to top with the strength of his waist, the momentum was more urgent than the first knife! Yang Shizhen hugged her knees and shrunk her neck, her body shrank in the air, and instantly hugged into a small ball, narrowly avoiding the knife! "Bone Shrinking Kungfu!" Yun Jisang blurted out, it turned out that the light kungfu master who fought against Zhuo Anjie that night was actually Yang Shizhen! After evading Wang Zhenwu's second knife, Yang Shizhen was unstoppable in front of him. He landed behind his back, but as if a spring had been attached to his back, his body bounced up as soon as he touched the ground, and threw himself into the darkness. Wang Yansi roared in desperation, stepped on tiptoe and bowed, threw the iron ruler with all his strength, and hit Yang Shizhen in the air! Yang Shizhen was in the air, but his five senses were extremely sharp. On one side of his body, a spinning iron ruler whizzed past his ears.Everyone saw his lightness kung fu at this moment, and they all knew in their hearts that if they didn't force him before he landed, they might not be able to keep him after he jumped again! At this moment, Yuchen Ji also moved!Her graceful figure flew out of the ground like lightning, and the blue Taoist robe fluttered down, like a nimble ice fish, instantly swimming three feet away on the snow surface, and at the same time, the whisk of her right hand swung across the ground, sweeping across the ground, Thousands of silver threads immediately bloomed like chrysanthemums, and each whisk turned into sharp needles under the urging of true energy, piercing the ground with a radius of two feet!She used this move extremely cleverly, she didn't attack Yang Shizhen directly, but skillfully seized the moment when he was about to land, and attacked him! Yang Shizhen screamed again, as if his body was being held up by some mysterious force, he stagnated out of thin air, raised his chest and retracted his abdomen, and slapped down with both hands like wings, unexpectedly using such a strange posture to soar up again, The deflection just jumped out of the attack range of the whisk! He is flying!This is the thought in the hearts of all those who witnessed this scene.Yang Shizhen's movements at this moment are really stretched and elegant like a bird soaring, completely beyond the limits of human beings. However, Yun Jisang knew very well that no matter what, humans cannot compare with birds, and what Yang Shizhen used was just an extremely sublime lightness kung fu.Today his thinking is exceptionally clear, and his senses are much sharper than the previous few days. When he questioned Yang Shizhen, he secretly buckled a "Raksha tear" between the thumb and middle finger of his left hand, just in case.Immediately calm down, eyes focused, Yang Shizhen's movements slowed down immediately in his eyes, so without any hesitation, he stretched out his finger and flicked, a line of dark red flashed and disappeared in the night.Yang Shizhen roared in the air, lost her balance, and fell down whining like a big bird with broken wings. Before he got up, Wang Yansi, Yu Chenji and Wang Zhenwu had already surrounded him, and the three formed a faint shape, blocking all his way out. "Yang Shizhen, you are finished!" Wang Yansi said coldly. Yang Shizhen stood up expressionlessly, pressing her ribs with her left hand, blood slowly oozing from between her fingers.After hearing Wang Yansi's words, he sneered, but said to Yun Jisang: "Young Xia Yun is very good at concealed weapons, but what is the name of this hidden weapon?" Yun Jisang hesitated for a while, and finally said: "Raksha tears." "Raksha Tears..." Yang Shizhen murmured, "Does Rakshasa have tears too? Yes, even though Rakshasa is a fierce ghost, the pain in his heart is thousands of times that of the world. Naturally there are tears. Rakshasa tears ... What a Rakshasa tear!" "Where are so many nonsense, the old man asks you, is it you who is ghosting the bell? Did you kill so many people who died in these years?" Wang Zhenwu shouted loudly. Yang Shizhen sneered and said, "What are you asking now? Of course I killed those people! They died under the ghost bell, and their souls can fly straight to the sky. That is the best destination for ordinary people. You should envy them!" "What about Xiaomei? Did you kill Xiaomei?" Wang Yansi's usually calm voice trembled a little at this moment. "Xiaomei..." The corner of Yang Shizhen's mouth trembled slightly, "Yes, I killed her too..." "Bastard—!" Before he could finish his sentence, Wang Yansi had already stepped forward a foot, his left fist was dangling, and his right fist directly hit his left rib.The blow was so strong that Yang Shizhen was still five feet away, and the robe on his chest was already flying!At the same time, Wang Zhenwu raised his broadsword, the nine rings slammed sharply, the human sword merged into one, rushed forward, and slashed at his neck frantically. Yang Shizhen leaned slightly to avoid Wang Yansi's punch. At the same time, he bent his legs and lowered his head to avoid Wang Zhenwu's knife.It's just that the saber was too fierce, and he was injured again. He lowered his head a little slower, and the bamboo hat was split open by the saber air, and the scattered hair bun was scattered like black smoke, making his face look hideous and ugly. Embarrassed. The two didn't relax even more, they joined forces to attack Yang Shizhen with disheveled hair! Although Yang Shizhen's lightness skill is high, his martial arts is not much higher than the two of them, and now he is seriously injured, so he can only dodge frequently. Wang Zhenwu looks like a mad tiger, he opens and closes his sword wide and wide, every time he strikes a knife, there is a roar, every move is the same way to end.Fortunately, although Wang Yansi's punches and kicks are getting faster and faster, but his moves are extremely solid and sophisticated, full of strength, with few flaws, which just made up for his flaws, and he spotted Yang Shizhen's injured right side, and made every move forward, without giving him a chance to fight back. room for. If Wang Zhenwu is the wild fire, then Wang Yansi is the stable mountain. The two cooperated very tacitly. After only a dozen or so moves, Yang Shizhen was seriously injured and couldn't stand it anymore. At this moment, he shook his head violently. , the loose hair was whipped towards Wang Zhenwu like a whip!The old security guard was caught off guard, and suddenly dodged in shock. Yang Shizhen opened his mouth, and a needle as thin as a cow's hair shot out from his mouth, and it went straight into Wang Zhenwu's left eye!Wang Zhenwu yelled and backed away. At this moment, Wang Yansi kicked Yang Shizhen in the side. He immediately vomited blood, flew up, and fell heavily into the snow several feet away. Just as Wang Yansi was about to jump forward and make up for another blow, Yang Shizhen raised his hand suddenly, and a ghost bell suddenly shot out, hitting his chest.Wang Yansi hurriedly stepped back and turned sideways, avoiding the ghost bell.Yang Shizhen raised his hands anxiously, one shot at Wang Zhenwu, one at Yu Chenji, and finally all nine shot at Yun Jisang! Unexpectedly, he would become the most important target, Yun Jisang instinctively performed the Shimen Golden Cicada Step, leaning back and deflecting, the five ghost bells fell into the air, and at the same time stretched out his fingers and flicked one of them flying.But after all, his internal injuries have not healed, and the range of deflection is not enough, but the remaining few can't be avoided no matter what. At this moment, a bright sword light suddenly lit up in his eyes. "Ding! Ding! Ding!" The two ghost bells flew to the left and right in the sword light, and the last one turned back backwards and sank straight into Yang Shizhen's chest! Yun Jisang heaved a sigh of relief, and turned his head to look, only to see Zhuo Anjie standing beside him, with a sharp sword, but a rare stern expression. Yun Jisang looked at this slightly chilling senior sister, and couldn't help but think of the time when Zhuo Anjie always vented her anger after being bullied when she was a child. Yes, Senior Sister hasn't changed at all... that's great... On the one hand, Wang Zhenwu was accidentally injured by Yang Shizhen, and roared again in extreme anger, soaring into the air, holding the knife in both hands, and slashing down with all his strength like Mount Tai! Yang Shizhen was seriously injured and couldn't escape, so she smiled miserably and closed her eyes to die. Suddenly, the whisk in Yu Chenji's hand stretched out, dragging Yang Shizhen away a few feet. Wang Zhenwu slashed through the air with his sword, and the snow and mud flew together, and the sharp knife air opened Zhang Xu long knife marks on the snow! "Yu Zhenren, what do you mean?" Wang Yansi asked coldly. "Even if you want to kill, you have to ask clearly before killing!" Yu Chenji said lightly. Wang Yansi took a deep breath, clasped his fists and said, "It's Wang who is too excited, thank you Yuren for reminding me." Yu Chenji came to Yang Shizhen and looked at him coldly: "Tell me, how did Wei Jiru die back then?" "Wei Jiru, he...what does he have to do with you?" Yang Shizhen looked at Yu Chenji pantingly and asked. "You don't need to worry about this, tell me quickly, have you ever killed Wei Jiru?" Yu Chenji asked. "Hey, so what if it is, so what if it's not..." Yang Shizhen coughed a few times, and looked at the sky blankly: "It's not important anymore... everything..." After finishing speaking , Crimson blood flowed from his mouth and nose, and his breathing gradually weakened. "Is Wei Jiru dead? Tell me!" Yu Chenji stepped forward and grabbed his collar, and shouted frantically at him. "Paper...paper...mud..." Yang Shizhen murmured vague words, his gaze gradually lost. "He's dead..." After Wang Yansi tried the tip of his nose, he looked back at Wang Zhenwu as if lost. "Dead?" Wang Zhenwu covered his eyes and said in a daze, "Dead...then he... all... finished?" There was another old man who was also confused. "Jiru? Is Jiru dead? How did he die?" Wei Shengzeng asked Xie Qingfang in a daze. Xie Qingfang forced a smile and said: "Husband, your disciples have been suffering one after another these past few days, and your mind is a little confused. How could you forget that Jiru has passed away for many years." "No, I saw Jiru yesterday, and he greeted me, saying that I am old and should rest more..." He said in a daze, and suddenly burst into tears, "Jiru, you also need to rest more what……" After speaking, he tilted his body and passed out. Yun Jisang was shocked when he saw this, and hurried over to get the teacher's pulse. On the other hand, Tang Pan's expression changed drastically, and he walked towards Wei Shengzeng.It's just that Zhuo Anjie casually took a step forward, just blocking his way.Tang Pan snorted and backed away with a sullen face. "How is master?" Xie Qingfang asked anxiously. "Teacher is fine, it's just a sudden flare-up of anger. Just go back and take care of yourself." Yun Jisang let go of Wei Shengzeng's wrist and comforted him. "It's fine, it's fine." Xie Qingfang comforted Wei Shengzeng. Yun Jisang looked at her, filled with guilt.In fact, he was quite worried, Wei Shengzeng's pulse was extremely disordered, but pulse questioning was never his specialty, so it was difficult to find out the specific cause of the disease at the moment, so he could only find a doctor for the teacher later. "Is it all over?" Zhuo Anjie came to him and asked softly. "Who knows?" Yun Jisang looked at a corner of the hall. There, a ghost bell was secretly hung up by someone, and it was swaying secretly in the corner that was not illuminated by the light. "Wang Butou, I want to go see Mrs. Xu, do you want to go together?" Yun Jisang asked Wang Yansi. "Ah? What?" Wang Yansi asked in a daze. "I'm going to see Mrs. Xu, are you going?" Yun Jisang said patiently. "Sister Xu? Oh, yes." "Senior sister, I'll go first, you can take Ming Huan back first, this child has also been frightened a lot tonight." Yun Jisang said to Zhuo Anjie. But Ming Huan shook her head desperately: "No, Huan'er wants to be with Xifu!" "Let's go with you." Zhuo Anjie patted her head lightly, "Ming Huan is a big girl, it's time to learn to face some things." Yun Jisang smiled bitterly: "Okay." On such a cold winter night, even the air is permeated with the ruthlessness of ice and snow. Wang Yansi had recovered his shrewd appearance, and said to Yun Jisang: "As expected of Mr. Gongshen's disciple, Young Master Yun was able to see through Yang Shizhen's trick in such a short period of time. It's really amazing! Wang admires it! " Yun Jisang smiled slightly, and breathed out a large cloud of mist: "Actually, I was preconceived. All along, I didn't think that the dumb servant would be a ghost haunting the bell." "Oh, why?" Wang Yansi wondered. "This haunted bell has always been marked by the ringtone, killing people with the ringtone, and making people avoid it. This shows that the murderer must be a person who can clearly hear the ringtone. And from the first time I saw the dumb servant , I knew that he was completely deaf, because only a deaf person would be indifferent to my "interdental thunder". Since he can't be a ghost haunting the bell, then it must be the murderer's arrangement and blame him. Bring It is naturally easier to find clues based on such a conclusion." Yun Jisang said with emotion. "So that's it." Wang Yansi nodded, "Yang Shizhen didn't take this into consideration. He has committed a heinous crime, and he should be punished!" "Wang Butou, do you really think that Yang Shizhen killed those people?" Yun Jisang asked suddenly. "Young Xia Yun, what do you mean?" Wang Yansi asked in surprise. "It's nothing, maybe I was wrong. Look, we're here." Yun Jisang pointed to a small room. Inside the hut, a small oil lamp quietly exploded. The mute servant's body was placed on two side-by-side cases, and Mrs. Xu was carefully wiping off the stains on his body with a linen cloth. She wiped so gently and attentively, as if what she was scrubbing was not a cold corpse, but a treasure she valued the most, even the arrival of Yun Jisang and the others didn't make her movements stop at all. "This is my younger brother...my real brother..." She suddenly said, her voice changed from her usual dull voice to a hoarse and sad one. "Sister-in-law Xu, are you okay?" Yun Jisang asked worriedly. "It's okay, why should I be in trouble? It's him who is in trouble..." Mrs. Xu said gently to the dumb servant. "Sister-in-law Xu, we have found the murderer of your younger brother, the housekeeper Yang Shizhen." Wang Yansi said in a deep voice, "He is probably the ghost Lingling who has plagued Ping'an Town for many years." "Butler Yang?" Aunt Xu's movements slowed down a little, and then she returned to normal, "Everyone is fine, it has nothing to do with us anymore, nothing to do with it at all." "Didn't you say that he is your cousin?" Yun Jisang asked suspiciously. "Cousin, that's just an excuse. Because my younger brother has always been a wanted criminal by the court." Mrs. Xu said slowly. "Is there a crime? What is a crime?" Wang Yansi's gaze became sharp again. "My younger brother's real name is Li Xunfang." "Li Xunfang? The flower picker Li Xunfang?" Wang Yansi asked in surprise. Yun Jisang suddenly remembered the arrest notice he saw when he first entered Ping'an Town. Mrs. Xu's voice seemed distant and helpless: "Yes, I have been hiding him in the Wei Mansion all these years, and I dare not let him go out again. I just want to leave a root for our old Li family. This child was born ugly since he was a child. He is deaf again, except for my sister, who would treat him sincerely? After being cheated by a woman once, he began to take revenge on women, ruining the innocence of many women. A few years ago, he broke out and came to me , although I hate him for not being up to date, but he is my younger brother after all, so I had no choice but to accept him, who would have thought that three years ago he was so old-fashioned that he insulted Xiaomei..." "What did you say? Xiaomei is him..." Wang Yansi's expression turned ferocious. "I once made him swear a poisonous oath that I would never hurt anyone in Wei's mansion. But he thought that Xiaomei was not from Wei's mansion, so he did it. I hated and was afraid to death. But in the end, I helped him hide the truth." It’s just that I thought at the time that I would suffer retribution for doing such a thing. Now, as expected, he will...retribution...retribution..." Mrs. Xu shook her head. "You...you...you...you...you are going to die!" Wang Yansi suddenly roared, pulled out the iron ruler and threw it at Mrs. Xu. "Dang!" The iron ruler was swung away by Zhuo Anjie's long sword. "Wang Butou, calm down!" Yun Jisang shouted. "They killed Xiaomei! They killed Xiaomei!" Wang Yansi's eyes were red, and he pointed the iron ruler at Mrs. Xu and shouted, "I want to kill her! This stinking woman! She must pay for Xiaomei's life!" "I know, I've known for a long time, this day will definitely come... And I've waited too long for this day... So, I won't bother the king to arrest you..." Mrs. Xu smiled calmly , the smile gradually stiffened.In that smile, there is grief and relief.Slowly, red blood oozes from her seven orifices bit by bit, embellishing this smile with cruelty and despair. Zhuo Anjie turned Ming Huan's face away and hugged her in her arms, preventing her from seeing this cruel scene. "Clang!" Wang Yansi's iron ruler fell to the ground. After the little oil lamp had exhausted its last efforts, the remaining weak flame shook slightly and went out. On the way back, Wang Yansi was silent all the time. The shrewd and capable person in the past seemed to have left him the moment Mrs. Xu died, and what was left was only a dried up body.His footsteps were vain, and his eyes were always fixed on a place far ahead, as if he wanted to see clearly the already blurred memory. Suddenly, he staggered and fell into the snow. Yun Jisang rushed to help him up: "Wang Butou, you..." Wang Yansi stood there for a long time after getting up, and suddenly said: "Do you know, I came to Wei Mansion to avenge Xiaomei." Yun Jisang nodded: "I know you have something to do with Mr. Wang's bodyguard, and you have been monitoring the Wei Mansion for the past three years. Now it seems that it must be because of Xiaomei's death." "That's right, Xiaomei... She is my cousin and my fiancée. She is a good girl, she loves to laugh, she likes to bring back unwanted kittens and puppies, and she is so kind to everyone. She When we die, in half a year, we will get married..." Wang Yansi dreamily told a story of his own. "How much did Catcher Wang know about what happened back then?" Yun Jisang couldn't help asking. "I don't know much. I was away on business at the time, and when I got the news, it was too late. If the old man hadn't brought her to Wei's mansion, nothing would have happened. So I hate the old man, and I have been ignoring her all these years He. I hate people in the Wei Mansion even more, because I know that the murderer is likely to be in the Wei Mansion! Originally, I doubted Wei Jiru, the son of the Wei Mansion, but he passed away not long after. It is said that he was very sick at the time, and there was no I can't meet people, and I know his usual behavior, he really doesn't look like a person who does this kind of thing, so I continued to investigate, hoping to find the murderer one day. It's just that the status of Wei's mansion is really unusual, there is no certainty I also had a hard time asking about the evidence, not to mention that I was not a police officer in the county at the time." Wang Yansi took a deep breath and sighed, "Later, I finally found a way to transfer here. After a short time, I heard Now comes the legend of Ghost Winding Bell. Hey, Ghost Winding Bell, others are terrified, but at that time I realized that this might be a good opportunity for me to find out the cause of Xiaomei's death. So I went to the old man to discuss it, and he told me secretly, Let's find the murderer who killed Xiaomei together. The old man is also very regretful about what happened back then, and he has always been brooding about it, so he agreed. It's just that no matter what, the one who avenged us in the end turned out to be Gui Lingling himself! It's a big deal The joke..." Although he said it was a joke, there was no smile on his face. "In any case, Xiaomei's grievance has been wronged, and her spirit in heaven must be able to rest in peace..." Yun Jisang patted him on the shoulder and comforted him. Wang Yansi nodded, was silent for a while, and said again: "To tell you the truth, there were indeed many doubts about Wei Jiru's death back then. No one even saw the funeral and burial. If there was no secret in it, no one would believe it. It's just that The reputation of the Wei Mansion has always been very good, and Wei Jiru himself is indeed a sincere gentleman, so there is no gossip. Now that the truth of Gui Chanling has been revealed, Xiaomei's revenge has been avenged, and everything else is gone for me. It doesn't matter anymore..." "I understand, but there are still doubts about this case. I still have a few questions, and I want to ask Catcher Wang for advice." Yun Jisang said sincerely. "Young Xia Yun, but it doesn't matter." Behind them, Zhuo Anjie took Ming Huan's little hand and walked slowly. "Xi Gu, what is Xi Fu talking about?" Ming Huan stretched his head and looked ahead. "It's very important, he thought it was." Zhuo Anjie said flatly. "What is the important thing?" "For him, other people's affairs are very important..." Zhuo Anjie looked at Yun Jisang's back and said softly. In the wind and snow, the sleeve of Yun Jisang's right arm fluttered high, and the young back is thin and clear, which makes people feel heartbroken—and makes those who care about him feel heartbroken. Zhuo Anjie raised the gourd and took a swig, then slowly wiped the remaining wine from her lips with her cuff. Ming Huan blinked his big eyes, and felt that the master's aunt's movements were indescribably chic and beautiful, so he was very envious in his heart, so he peeked at the gourd, thinking that he would definitely ask his master for one in the future, and put it in it too. Wine, in that way, I can be as good as my aunt! After a while, Yun Jisang sent Wang Yansi to the gate. "Young Xia Yun, please go back. Mr. Wang is busy with official business and cannot stay long. Forgive me." Wang Yansi clasped her fists and said. "Where, Catcher Wang's careful observation has benefited me a lot! Ah, by the way, this bell is yours!" Yun Jisang took out the small bell that he picked up at the tavern, and handed it to Wang Yansi. "Ah! So it was picked up by Yun Shaoxia! It's so wonderful! This bell...it was given to me by Xiaomei back then..." Wang Yansi took the bell affectionately, shook it gently, and the bell made a crisp and pleasant sound. The sound was completely different from the eerie sounds of those ghost bells in Ping'an Town, like a girl laughing mischievously in the sun. A smile appeared on Wang Yansi's lips, as if thinking of the good old days.Immediately, with a serious expression on his face, he bid farewell to Yun Jisang, and strode away in the wind and snow. Snowflakes fell gently on his proud body, and then disappeared, like a naughty girl's care and teasing her lover... Yun Jisang was unable to salute with one arm, so he could only stand still and watch his figure go away, with mixed feelings in his heart. "Okay, don't watch it. Go back to sleep!" Zhuo Anjie tapped him on the head with the scabbard and ordered. "Yes, Senior Sister." Yun Jisang rubbed his head and grinned. "Xi Gu, Huan'er wants to sleep with Xi Fu..." Ming Huan raised her face and begged. “不行，你师父这几天肯定没睡好，今晚让他一个人好好休息一下。”卓安婕毫不犹豫地否决了她的提议。 “喜福……”明欢看自己惯用的绝招对师姑不好使，眼珠儿一转便又打起师父的主意来。 “要不，就让她和我睡吧。”云寄桑果然架不住明欢的可怜相，向卓安婕道。 “你倒是会做好人。明天可就是你师父的大寿了，你不好好歇息，小心到时变得熊猫似的。怎么，难不成你到时还想和明欢比比谁可爱吗？”卓安婕没好气地瞥着他道。 “不会不会，喜福和欢儿系要好好睡觉觉嘞！”明欢急道。 “师姐……”云寄桑恳求地望着卓安婕。 “算啦，不理你们一对宝贝师徒了。你们自便吧！”卓安婕将明欢向他怀里一推，自己一个人洒然先走了。 云寄桑和明欢相视一笑，仿佛一对终于逃脱了大人管教的孩子。 和云寄桑相比，明欢显然更高兴一些，这几天她和亲爱的师父相聚的时间比路上少多了，这让她颇为耿耿，此刻终于得偿夙愿，心中兴奋，挣脱了师父的手，迈动小腿，一蹦一跳，兴高采烈地跟在卓安婕身后。 云寄桑先是微笑着看着她走，随即神情渐渐变得严肃，目光落在她那一跳一跳的小脚上，久久不放。 忽然，他抬起头，深吸了一口气，目光渐渐深邃起来。 夜已经深了，明欢依旧没有睡，而是趴在桌子边，好奇地看师父在桌子上划来划去。 “不对啊……当时，明明……的确，王老镖头……时间……也许，是我错了？昨夜斗茶堂东，刘叟一路无踪。不生不灭自痴行，忍看故影惊鸿。没错的，老师说过，刘叟明明就是……”云寄桑喃喃自语着，笔下的图形已经乱成一团。 明欢看得无聊，从一边拿起一枚铃铛玩了起来。过了一会儿，她高兴地叫道：“喜福，你看你看，这个铃铛在哭未！” 云寄桑看了她一眼：“你从哪里弄来的鬼铃，不要玩它，这东西有邪气的。再说，那脸的表情很难说是哭是笑的。” “不系！不系！喜福，你看它真滴在哭未！”明欢急道，将铃铛递到云寄桑的面前。 云寄桑接过铃铛，漫不经心地扫了一眼，正想放到一边，突然又停下，将那铃铛举到面前，果然，那铃铛上鬼面的表情和以前那些铃铛有所不同，并不像那似哭非哭，似笑非笑的样子，而是更像是在哭泣，不，分明就是在哭泣。 “明欢，这个铃铛你是从哪里找来的？”云寄桑皱眉问。 “这不系喜福你的未，欢儿拿来好玩耍嘞！”明欢不解地回答。 mine?云寄桑微微一愣，随即想起了这个铃铛的来历。这是他昨日从陈启被杀的木屋中捡来的，当时随手塞入怀里，回来后便仍在桌子上，却被明欢拿去玩耍了。只是，为何这铃铛偏偏是哭泣的表情呢？ 等等，这铃铛……云寄桑举起铃铛，在灯光下仔细地观察着。 铃铛逆着灯光，轮廓显得更加的清晰，云寄桑将那鬼铃轻轻地转动，神色恍惚，许久都没放下。 “喜福，你怎地了？”明欢看师父的神情有些不对，便轻声问。 “没什么，只是师父知道为什么这铃铛会哭了。”云寄桑和声道。 “真滴么？为甚么？”明欢忙问。 “因为它很伤心啊，非常的……伤心……”不知为什么，云寄桑的声音很低很低。 天亮了，明媚的阳光，澈蓝的晴空。肆虐多日的北风今天也柔和了许多，有一下没一下地吹着，懒洋洋地象玩累了的孩子。 今天，是魏省曾六十大寿的日子。这位大儒的花甲大寿在大明的儒林中可说是件盛事。一大早开始，便有远近宾客，彬彬学子不断上门道贺祝寿，一时间魏府门前车水马龙，热闹非凡。巨大的金色寿字早早便贴在了魏府的大门上，让原本陈旧的府门显得神气了起来。府里也到处张灯结彩，子孙万代图、百寿图、寿山福海图、富贵耄耋图等寿图随处可见，渲染着喜庆的气氛。宽敞的院落中，几十张桌子一路夸张地摆开，枣宝、软糖、桃仁、马蹄等干果蜜饯早早摆满了一张张桌子；金糕卷、小豆糕、莲子糕在冬日中散发着腾腾的热气；九个硕大的红嘴寿桃层层相叠为一盘，三盘并列陈于寿堂几案上；加上盘成塔形，置以红绿镂纸拉花的寿面，更是显得喜气洋洋。八条幅联列成的寿屏挂在照壁，显得甚为大气，更有大大小小写满了吉语贺辞的金色寿幛一幅幅张挂着，昭显着魏府的高贵气象。 谢清芳今天一大早便忙个不停，到处支使着家人布置寿堂，准备寿宴。雇来的木匠、厨子、裱帛、纸匠、水夫等更被她使唤得团团转，没一刻得闲。虽然忙碌，心中却轻松得很，魏省曾今天的精神很好，她也便放心了。忽然间想起他今日的药还没吃，不由为自己的马虎而懊恼，拍了一下额头，匆忙地向药房的方向走去。 来到药房前，她不由一愣，本应锁上的门此刻竟然打开了。大惊失色下，忙推门进去。 药房内弥漫着刺鼻的中药气味，四面墙壁上立着高大的药柜，一张红木药案摆在中间，上面放着已经一份份称好了的散药。云寄桑正站在案前，默默地看着那些药材。 “是幼清啊……”谢清芳松了口气，随即又紧张地问：“你是怎么进来的？” “师娘受惊了……”云寄桑回身向她鞠躬为礼，“学生在这里专程等师娘来，是有些事情想向您请教。” “什么事啊，要不待会儿再说吧，今天府里的事多得很，你不知道我今天有多忙，而且我还要给老爷煎药呢。”说笑着，谢清芳走到案前捡起药来。 “胆南星、青皮、陈皮、广木香、竹沥半夏、煅礞石、天竺黄、石菖蒲、郁金、生大黄……师娘，您这是要煎涤痰开窍汤吧？”云寄桑这淡淡一句话说来，却让谢清芳的身子猛地一颤，手中的药洒了一地。 “还有这些，橘红、法半夏、柴胡、郁金、香附、远志、石菖蒲、瓜蒌、胆南星、竹茹，这分明是解郁化痰汤的方子。学生虽然问脉不行，可是记性却是不差的，这两个方子，我没认错吧？”云寄桑温和地问道，淡淡的笑容中带着一丝怜悯。 “幼清你……你还是知道了……也是，我早就想告诉你了，只是一直找不到机会。”谢清芳呆了一会儿，低声叹道。 “老师病了多久了？”云寄桑沉声问。 谢清芳的脸上露出一丝苦笑：“好久了，自从继儒去世后他便病倒了，这些年我一直想法控制他的病情，好在慢慢有了些效果，最近他看上去已经和正常人没什么区别了。”说到最后一句，她的语气里已有了欣慰之意。 “这事没人知道么？”云寄桑又问。 谢清芳摇了摇头：“我怎么敢让别人知道……” 云寄桑抬头长叹了一声，向谢清芳道：“师娘，陪我出去走走好么？” 谢清芳犹豫了一下，终于点了点头。